Le Figaro Nice
Next August 25, it will be two years.
Two years since Noémie Cousin's parents were sentenced to the heaviest sentence, that of having lost a child.
Their daughter Noémie, 16, died tragically in a traffic accident on August 25, 2022, in Vence (Alpes-Maritimes), not far from her home.
She was leaving a private road on her bike when she was hit by a driver.
At the time of the events, the latter, a 48-year-old man, was under the influence of narcotics, as toxicological analyzes carried out immediately after the tragedy revealed.
Briefly placed in police custody, he was released.
For more than a year, the teenager's parents were not informed of anything.
In December 2023, they ended up hiring a lawyer.
It was therefore Me Laure Teresi who informed them that the Grasse public prosecutor had decided, two months earlier, to dismiss their complaint for “involuntary manslaughter”, pointing out the absence of an offense.
The prosecution considered, after expert examination, that the accident was inevitable because the defendant was not able to see the cyclist arriving.
The forty-year-old was only sentenced for his driving under drugs, i.e. a six-month license suspension and a 1,000 euro fine.
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A legal desert
A decision that is both painful and incomprehensible for those close to Noémie.
For their advice too.
“These people have gone through an extraordinary legal desert
,” she laments.
And to maintain that
“the respondent knew very well the route where he committed a mistake that day, since it was a work-home route.”
The lawyer now wants a new accident assessment to be carried out.
To this end, and to prove that the driver's abilities were impaired at the material time, she filed a new complaint with the dean of investigating judges of the Grasse judicial court.
“We must force public action
,” she deciphers.
They can absolutely come face to face while going to get their bread, since this man is free and he also lives in the town.
Maître Laure Teresi, lawyer for the parents of Noémie Cousin
With this new approach, Me Teresi intends to offer Noémie's loved ones a little more justice than they have had until now.
“They expect a lot from this complaint
,” she relays.
The victim's parents, who have spoken extensively in the local media in recent days, no longer wish to speak today.
“They can't take it anymore, they're tired.
“All this is a lot for them
,” explains their lawyer.
The fact remains that while waiting for the procedure to evolve, it is not uncommon for this couple - parents of another young girl - to come across the man responsible for Noémie's death in the streets of Vence.
“They can absolutely come face to face when going to get their bread, since this man is free and he also lives in the town
,” laments Mr. Teresi.
Also read “A procedural error”: near Nice, a driver who killed a teenager released before his trial
Creation of “road homicide”
This affair is reminiscent of that of young Noé Guez, in Antibes.
On the night of June 24 to 25, 2022, this young man, also 16 years old, was fatally struck by a driver on the road to Grasse, in Antibes.
Here again, the accused had consumed drugs before getting behind the wheel.
Indicted for “involuntary manslaughter”, the latter was placed in pre-trial detention, then released and placed in detention again... only to be finally released due to a procedural flaw raised by his lawyer.
It is therefore free that he will appear at the Grasse criminal court on February 14.
To put an end to the vagueness surrounding road violence, the deputy for the 7th constituency of Alpes-Maritimes Éric Pauget, unanimously adopted at first reading in the National Assembly, on January 31, his bill to the creation of “road homicide”.
“This new qualification will make it possible to put “words to the evils”, but it will also make it possible to better judge those who, voluntarily drunk or drugged, have taken a life on the road
,” he said.
A victory that the parliamentarian dedicated
“to all the families torn apart by these tragedies, and more particularly to Noé Guez and his family.”
For Me Teresi, if this law constitutes a victory
“on the semantic level”
, it will in reality
“not toughen the laws.
And
besides, all the regulatory and legislative tools already exist..."